In the fall of 2021, the U-M Wolverine Wellness program surveyed Michigan Kinesiology graduate students about the state of their mental health and well-being. It got movement science PhD candidate Michele Marenus thinking about ways the school could help, so she emailed Steve Broglio, associate dean for graduate student affairs, about starting a wellness committee.

“I was immediately supportive,” Broglio says. “Michele’s background, expertise, and input were key in getting the committee started and setting us off on the right path.”

Graduate staff members Charlene Ruloff and Tahirah McIntosh, faculty members Haylie Miller and Ron Wade, and sport management PhD candidate Chrissy Maleske volunteered to serve alongside Marenus and Broglio on the new Graduate Wellness Committee. Joy Pehlke, a wellness coach and assistant director of Wolverine Wellness, also came on board as an advisor.

Their goal: to develop a community culture of wellness by supporting graduate students, mitigating stress, and eliminating barriers to wellness.

“Most faculty members came up in a system that didn’t serve them, and so now they think we  have to do the same thing,” says Marenus, who has degrees in psychology and is writing her dissertation on workplace health culture. “What would it look like if we used this committee to make meaningful changes?”

Maleske was particularly interested in the community-building aspect of the committee; she earned her bachelor’s degree from SoK when it was spread across three buildings and students didn’t have a “home base.” She hoped to use her peer facilitator background to find ways for graduate students to connect more.

One idea came to her and Marenus while they were chatting with colleagues who had participated in their sorority’s “bigs and littles” program. In similar fashion, the Graduate Wellness Committee paired lower-level PhD students with upper-level PhD students to talk about the mechanics of grad school and, ultimately, grow their support networks as they got to know each other on a deeper level.

Maleske and Marenus also initiated a “Write It Out Together” program this past summer. Graduate students could drop into a reserved SoK classroom throughout the day, grab some coffee and fruit, and work or write in a shared, supportive environment.

The committee frequently brings in guest speakers on a wide range of topics. One of Maleske’s favorite events focused on impostor syndrome, defined as the persistent doubting of your abilities despite your achievements. Danielle Rosenscruggs, a PhD candidate in developmental psychology, asked participants to share their stories and provided research-based strategies for combating their impostor thoughts and feelings.

“It was funny, the conversations of, ‘Wow. I feel that all the time,’” Maleske says. “If I’m having a bad day, now I know I’m going to a space that has other students with similar stresses or similar challenges that I’m facing.”

The committee has also hosted events on career planning, which can be a source of anxiety for students at all levels. PhD students, in particular, often aren’t exposed to non-academic career paths.

“We had a coordinator from Rackham [Graduate School] come in and talk to us about going into industry and what resources are available to us,” Maleske says. “I’ve never really thought that was an option.”

Another set of events focused solely on community-building and stress mitigation. Maleske and Marenus organized pickleball games (Marenus’ favorite) and happy hours at Dominick’s. Broglio also invited graduate students to a bonfire, complete with s’mores, at his house.

As Maleske and Marenus finish up their PhDs, they’re helping to plan the committee’s next phase.

“The first year was, ‘Let’s get this thing started’ and now our last meetings are, ‘How do we make sure that we have a good representative from each program at the table to talk about these things?’” Maleske says. “I’m hoping I can leave little crumbs for the sport management students that draw the connection and build the community.”

“Everybody has to do their personal work on their mental health,” Marenus adds. “But if we can make these connections and make work feel like a place where you can be vulnerable and have people to lean on, that’s huge. My mom always had this Mother Teresa quote, ‘If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one,’ at the bottom of her email. If one person is happier or
better [because of our work], it was worth it.”